Schuey never fails to check pit board after each lap

SEPANG: When Michael Schumacher whizzes past the paddocks at over 250km per hour, there is one thing he never fails to look at – the pit board which tells him how he is doing.

It is held up by Miodrag Kotur, 42, who has the honour of handling “the most archaic piece of equipment” in the cutting-edge technology environment of Formula One.

“I hold the pit board and show him what position he is in and how many laps he has done. Besides this, the signage also shows who is behind him and who is in front of him.

Kotur has little over a minute to manually assemble the individual numbers between each lap.

“I am at the signalling area and get the information from the TV screen and team radio. I show him the change in timing for each lap,” he said at the pits of the Sepang F1 circuit here yesterday.

Miodrag Kotur demonstrates how he holds up the pit board to give Schumacher the information he needs.

“It is difficult and Michael is watching all the time. If you make a mistake, you will hear it over the radio. But I enjoy doing it because I am participating in the race and my heart 'beats' to the engine of the car. You have to know exactly what is going on,” he said, adding that he loses about 1kg of weight on race days due to loss of water in Sepang and drinks about five litres of water daily.

He added that he has been doing the job since the Brazilian Grand Prix in 1994 when a mechanic who was supposed to do it was unable to do so.

On most other days, his regular job as Ferrari's logistics manager is to ensure that every team member and piece of equipment reaches a Formula One circuit.

Kotur’s “day” job, however, entails ensuring that everything is set up for the team upon arrival at a circuit – including car rental and hotel stay.

“We multitask. I build the village at the circuit and so everything is ready for the team when they start work. They do not have to look for anything. I arrive on a Monday at a circuit and the set-up is completed by Wednesday,” he said.

Kotur, who has worked with Ferrari for 11 years, said he was still motivated by the job and was constantly learning.

“I am still curious about things,” he said.

Rubens Barrichello’s trainer Raniero Giannotti, 40, is another person who multitasks and helps out with the team’s first aid and advises team members on how to keep fit.

“In Malaysia, we prepare bottled water with mineral salts for the race because they lose a lot of fluids. It is not so bad this year. The worst was in October 2000 when it was really hot and humidity was 80%.

“But Barrichello does not have a big problem because he spends time in Brazil after the Australian Grand Prix to prepare for the weather here. He is a perfectionist,” he said.

News Poll

Latest Jobs from Star-Jobs

Latest from StarProperty